Full Quote: PERRY: "[the idea that you]-- are going to build a wall, a fence for 1,200 miles, and then go 800 miles more to Tijuana, does not make sense. You put the boots on the ground.
We know how to make this work. You put the boots on the ground.
You put the aviation assets --
SANTORUM: But it's not working, Governor.
PERRY: -- in the ground. No, it's not working because the federal government has not --
SANTORUM: But you said we know how it works. Is it working in Texas?
PERRY: The federal government has not engaged in this at all."

Editor Findings

Rick Perry recently claimed that "the federal government has not engaged in (border security) at all." He was speaking at the GOP debate hosted by Fox News and Google on September 22nd, 2011, in Orlando, Fla.

The Truthsquad community fact-checked this claim from September 28th to October 5th, 2011. Together, we reviewed over a dozen factual documents from multiple, credible sources reporting on this topic (see links to the right). We found overwhelming evidence that the federal government has devoted significant resources to stop illegal crossings of the U.S Mexico border, and has dramatically increased its border patrol efforts in recent years. Furthermore, trusted fact-checking organizations such as FactCheck and PolitiFact came to similar conclusions, after extensive research by their experienced journalists. Based on these results, we find this claim FALSE.

Rick Perry recently claimed that "the federal government has not engaged in (border security) at all." He was speaking at the GOP debate hosted by Fox News and Google on September 22nd, 2011, in Orlando, Fla.

The Truthsquad community fact-checked this claim from September 28th to October 5th, 2011. Together, we reviewed over a dozen factual documents from multiple, credible sources reporting on this topic (see links to the right). We found overwhelming evidence that the federal government has devoted significant resources to stop illegal crossings of the U.S Mexico border, and has dramatically increased its border patrol efforts in recent years. Furthermore, trusted fact-checking organizations such as FactCheck and PolitiFact came to similar conclusions, after extensive research by their experienced journalists. Based on these results, we find this claim FALSE.

Community members who participated in this truthsquad are nearly unanimous in finding this claim false. Here are some observations, excerpted from the community findings below.

NewsTrust host and contributing editor Kristin Gorski wrote: "Article after article I found, representing multiple reliable media outlets, feature the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security. It is, without a doubt, a working federal entity actively engaged in protecting borders of the United States. "

Other members confirmed this finding, such as Colleen E Bushey, who wrote: "According to the statistics for CBP the number of "boots on the ground" have increased more each year since 2009." Edward Olson: "many news stories and video clips indicating the Border Patrol's activities in policing the border. US News and World Report and MSNBC to name two."

It's also worth noting that two of our members live on the border and provided eyewitness reports to confirm high federal activity levels in their area. Here's what Ben Schultz noted: "I live within sight of the border in Jacumba Ca. If you could see the number of border patrol vehicles, helicopter, horse, quads, etc. You would never say anything so foolish. They are everywhere …"

Overall, the factual evidence we found together overwhelmingly supports our 'false' rating, whether these findings originated from citizen reviewers or experienced journalists. To learn more, we invite you to read some of the other notes below, as well as the links in the right column of this page.

We would like to thank all of the NewsTrust members who have so generously contributed to this pilot so far. We really appreciate all of your great insights and hope that you learned as much from this experience as we did.

If you haven't participated in this pilot yet, give it a try. You'll be glad you did, as it's proving to be a really effective way for anyone to get better informed about important issues, by investigating them pro-actively in collaboration with other citizens and experienced journalists. The more we dig together, the more we learn as a community.

Community Findings

Rick Perry's claim that the feds have not engaged in border security is clearly false, based on the overwhelming factual evidence we gathered as a community (see links on the right). These credible reports from the Congressional Research Service, the Department of Homeland Security, FactCheck.org, PolitiFact, the State of Texas and the U.S. Border Patrol all confirm that the federal government has devoted significant resources to stop illegal crossings of the U.S Mexico border, and has dramatically increased its border patrol efforts in recent years. Case closed.

Article after article I found, representing multiple reliable media outlets, feature the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security. It is, without a doubt, a working federal entity actively engaged in protecting borders of the United States. Using these articles alone as evidence (and there is more reliable evidence available), it is clear that Perry's statement is not correct.

I live within sight of the border in Jacumba Ca.
If you could see the number of border patrol vehicles, helicopter, horse, quads, etc. You would never say anything so foolish. They are everywhere and they bother everybody.
This is just silly.
We can't afford they incredible amount the Feds are spending on "border security" as it is. To say they aren't doing it?

The statement only proves one thing which is Rick Perry does not possess something that all of us take for granted – the ability to pause for that split second and analyze what were going to say before it gets past our lips. In his defense it was late in the debate in he had Rick Santorum nipping at his heels like a rabid Chihuahua. Platitudes like this are every politician's kryptonite all he needed to say was that "the federal government's efforts weren't working".

Based on the excerpt provided, you may believe Rick Perry claims the federal government has not provided any support (which is of course false, since border patrol agents are federal employees). However, when reading the transcript provided, the issue discussed is about how to handle immigration, with little emphasis on the lack of federal assistance. The issue is not whether or not the feds provide support, but whether or not anyone has a solution. The main propositions seem to include two main options. The first is the ongoing fence proposition to erect a modern day Berlin Wall. The second is to increase monitoring via border patrol agents (by land, sea, and air). Neither of which are feasible. In one version we become symbolic of the tyranny and oppression we claim to be against, an American "Iron Curtain." In the other version, I envision a childhood game of Red Rover where immigrants still break through, even if we had enough border agents to link hands across all of the southern states. Perhaps additional links regarding other countries throughout history that have dealt with similar issues might be relevant here. It may benefit the population to brush up on their history lessons. No need to repeat what has already been tried...and failed.

Where do these people get their information. It appears you can just throw anything out there, and it becomes a fact. The Feds have spent a fortune on border security, starting in the late 90's to the present. Perry should take a behind the scenes tour with the Border Patrol ( as I have in the early 2000's) to see the triple fences at the crossing near Tijuana and San Diego.

Anyone who has ever crossed a US border knows that this is a dumb statement. Certainly how effective our border security is can be a subject for opinion and discussion, but to say that the "federal government has not engaged in (border security) at all" is simply totally inaccurate, and a serious misstatement from anyone who aspires to be taken seriously as a Presidential candidate. My source on this is frequent personal crossings of our borders, the last two being within the past month.